Who? Me?
by Simply Alexei
Summary: Hinata Hyuuga, a normal highschool girl, is being stalked. Sasuke Uchiha, a highschool heartthrob, has the young girl in his sights. Gaara no-last-name, the new guy in school, is not about to lose to an ass like Sasuke. Cover Image "gaahina-confesion" by Pikutel on DeviantArt
1. Chapter 1

**Saria: I definitly wrote this last year and had planned on posting it, but for some reason lost interest. Going through it again and editing (adding more, really, so that the pacing was better), I realize I use ALOT of comma's lol. I took out Hinata's constant stuttering caus honestly it's just too hard to type all the time, especially with her being the main character and all. Instead of this, I just had her pause more, so yeah... hope you guys enjoy my simple, highschool story. /**

**Disclaimer: Saria does (not) own Naruto or any of it's characters/settings/plotpoints.**

"Guess who's not a viiirgiiiiiin!" I glanced up at my pink haired friend. Sakura giggled, seeming to not be able to contain her giddyness over the this news of hers. Her short, black pleated skirt, a part of the Konoha Private High School's standard issue iniform, though hers was much shorter than regulations allowed, swished back and forth as she rocked on her heals. Her pink bra could be seen underneath the thin cotton fabric of her button down shirt, which was untucked in her 'rebellion'.

In the seat next to me, Ino, a blond haired, blued eyed beauty, rolled her eyes. "Let me take a wild guess..." She pretended to be thinking hard on the subject, petting an invisible beard on her chin. Sarcasm tainted her next words. "Oh, I give up. I really don't know, since it's obviously not you."

"I wasn't talking to you, Ino-pig!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at her 'frenemy', a childish act, I'm my opinion. Not that I could ever actually tell her that. The guilt of being so mean would kill me. Sakura soon turned back to me, her good mood unforgotten despite Ino's vicious verbal attack. "I had the best night of my life ysterday! You would not believe the things I did! It was-"

"Sakura..." I murmured, paniced. I couldn't help but stop her. I was already embarrassed from her previous statement. I'd be mortified if I let her go into any more detail. "Can you please explain something so" I blushed a vibrant red. "intimate to me during class, or... ever."

"Oh." The girl sobered. "I forgot. You're a nun."

"I am NOT a nun!" I squeaked, embarrassed that she'd even suggested that.

Ino, sensing my sudden distress, turned to Sakura, distracting her in a flippant tone. "So, billboard-brow, who stooped so low as to sleep with you?"

"For you're information," She huffed. "It was THE Sasuke Uchiha."

That caught out attention.

"Lies!" Ino gripped her heart, over dramatisizing her utter shock at Sakura's smug words about the school's local heartthrob. "Sasuke could never, WOULD never, sleep with you!"

"Of course he would," Sakura flipped her hair back, rolling her eyes. Smirking, she added, "and he already did. I mean we ARE going out-"

"What?" Ino was in full shock mode, nearly falling out of her chair and onto the linolium floor. "When-"

"Two months ago." Sakura clapped her hands, full of glee. "The best two months of my entire life!"

"Sakura..." The two girls quieted and look at me, surprised that I'd interejected, even quietly. "I don't think... that sleeping with Sasuke was a good decision on your part..."

"What do you mean, Hinata?" I could tell Sakura was angry and I immediatly regretted my comment. I looked down, away from her piercing eyes, and poked my fingers together nervously.

"I just think... I mean, you said it you it yourself, you've only be dating for a couple months, so you can't really know him THAT well yet... plus, he IS your first boyfriend and all..." I blushed, feeling like bringing that up had just made it worse. "Sorry, I just think that you could've been more careful and waited until you were sure that you wanted to give him something" I swallowed. "that you couldn't take back." I didn't voice that, from some awkward previous experience, I knew for a fact that Sasuke was a player who was just using her.

"Are you calling me stupid?" leave it to Sakura to take everything I said the wrong way. I almost rolled my eyes, if not for the fact that she was glaring daggers at me." She started speaking again before I could answer her previous question and defend myself. "You know what? I don't have to deal with all of your negativety, not to mention naivety. You don't understand because you've never been in a relationship. In fact," She snarked. "You'll probably never even be in a relationship." Sakura stomped off to her seat, which was located near the classroom door, as opposed to mine and Ino's, which were by the back windows.

"Wow," Ino tapped her purple nails against her desk, rolling her eyes. "That was a bitchy thing to say. I mean, it's not like she's all knowing about relationships, but no, she thinks she's so much more mature then the rest of us _girls_ because she let a guy down her pants." Ino leaned over to me, grinning. "You wanna go do what the mature girls do and flirt with Naruto for a bit?"

I grinned, despite the pang I felt from Sakura's parting comment, at Ino's reference to my once elemantary school cruch. Naruto had never really noticed my feeble advances on him and after 'moving on' in middle school, I found some humor in his utter obliviousness.

"No thank you, Ino," I opened up the book I'd been reading before all this boy nonsense occured. "I think I'd rather find out whether Bella ends up with Edward or Jacob."

"Oh come on, you know you're a Jasper fangirl." Ino bumped my shoulder playfully. "You're a sucker for that 'troubled' type."

I blushed, not disagreeing with her spot on assessment of my 'type' of boy. "I'm still not going."

She shrugged. "Your loss." I breathed a sigh of relief as she got up and walked out the door. It walk almost lunch anyway and our teacher, Kakashi-sensei, had a distinct knack for not caring what his students did, or did not, do, as seen earlier when, even as Ino and Sakura were going at it, he did nothing and, instead, kept his nose stuck in his dirty-adult book.

I felt back for staying behind and not accompanying Ino to go hang out with Naruto, but I couldn't possibly have given her an honest answer if she'd asked why I wouldn't. Naruto was one of Sasuke's close friends, and I didn't want to be near Sasuke at all. Sure we were forced to mingle at various dinner parties, our parents being major corporation heads, but something about the boy... it unnerved me. He'd stare at me for long periods of time, clearly aware that I knew he was, and whenever he spoke to me there was an underlying edge to the tone of his voice. I really couldn't prove anything, except for the fact that I'd walked in many-a-time on him 'playing' with girls, whether it be at a dinner party, or in the empty classroom of a teacher I needed to talk to, but I really didn't feel comfortable around the mysterious Uchiha boy.

Honestly, it hadn't been as bad before, but since Sakura had announced she and him were a couple, some odd months ago, I'd been even more aware of him, curious to see if I'd missed whatever aspect it was of his that attracted so many girls to him, like flies on hunny. In turn, I was more hyper-aware of the fact that he always seemed to be watching me, unabashfully, and continually, almost like he were wanting to see my reaction. I didn't like it, so I avoided it.

Obviously, I couldn't tell my friends about this; Sakura would become extremely angry that I could possible accuse her boyfriend of such horrible things; Ino wouldn't care so much about the accusation, as she would telling the world of it, a sad but true fact; and Naruto... he'd confront Sasuke, and that'd be the last thing I wanted. No, I prefured to just suffer in silence, to not hinder others with my trivial, and somewhat imaginative, problems.

Still though...

I jumped out of my thoughts as two hands slammed down on my desk. I stared up at the grinning Kiba, my best guy-friend. "Guess who has a date tonight?" He spoke loudly, drawing the attention of several girls in class. He was a pretty handsome fellow, if you want for the messy-hair-loud-playful type, and no doubt all of the girls were thinking how good he looked at the moment, glowing from excitement.

I leaned back in my chair, giving him a curious stare and waiting for him to tell me who. I didn't have to wait for long before he announced, "You do!" I heard a collecting sigh that voiced the sadness of the female population in the classroom.

"I do?"

"Yup. You and I are going to an amusement park!" I raised an eyebrow at the dog-loving boy.

"Kiba... I think the last time you took me to an amusement park... we established that I don't find them... amusing." I cringed, thinking of how he'd convinsed me to go on the rollercoaster backwards.

"Aww come on! It'll be fun! Besides, you look stressed."

I shrunk in my chair. Kiba obviously hadn't noticed how many people were listening to his loud voice. I stared at the floor, murmuring quietly, "I'm not stressed."

"I'll believe that as soon as Shika stays awake all the way through trig." I smiled, despite my embarrassment. There was no way in the world THAT was ever going to happen. "So, 5 o'clock then?"

I shook my head, smiling. Kiba wasn't the type to let the subject drop until I'd given in. "Fine, but you have to promise not to brink Akamaru this time."

"I thought you loved Akamaru?"

"I do... but the park people didn't... remember?" We both shuddered as the image of Akamaru covered in icecream and cotton candy racing through the house of mirrors.

"You're right. It took me hours to wash him off." Kiba gave a hearty laugh. "You have to promise to wear something other then that jacket though." he was refurring to the oversized purple jacket that I wore over my uniform everyday.

I was just about to argue that, without it, I felt exposed when the doors to the classroom opened and Uchiha Sasuke sauntered in, and I shut my mouth, sinking down farther into my chair and hoping he wouldn't notice me. Behind him, Naruto was wrestling around with a redheaded boy named Gaara, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else then there. I didn't really know the boy, him having transfured to our school at the semester, but Naruto had latched onto him like a leech.

Trying to look like I wasn't noticing Sasuke watching me as he sat in his chair, a row behind Sakura, I studied the Kanji tattoo-ed on Gaara's forehead. I searched my mind to figure out the meaning and when I finally remembered it meant 'love' my gaze flickered to his eyes and I realized that Gaara was looking back at me, probably wondering why the hell I was staring at him.

I blushed, quickly turning back to Kiba, who was explaing the plans he had for things he wanted us to do while we were at the park. I glanced back to find that Gaara was staring down at his desk, his forhead resting on one of his hands. He looked flustered.

I turned my attention back to Kiba, and blinked. "Wait... I don't want to go into a haunted house!"

**Saria: Yay! First chapter done. Like I said, I actually have the whole story written down in a notebook, it's just a matter of actually typing up, and editing to my liking. I REALLY APPRECIATE REVIEWS! (just saying)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Saria: Whew, stayed home all sickly from school yesterday and today... I wish I could say I spent my time in bed typing this up for you, but I didn't. I tried to sleep as much as possible, only earning myself an even more upset stomach and a killer headache. I was reading through what I'd written for this story and I realized this is the only/last time Kiba is mentioned. I'm prolly gonna go through and revise it so there'll be some other Kiba moments, but idk... it might be too much work for my fragile mind. I have no other random words for now, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own**

"Wow, Hinata, I just said you didn't have to wear your jacket. You didn't have to get all dressed up cute for me. I'm flattered."

I blushed at Kiba's comment. I really hadn't dressed up, just a lavender tank top and jeans. I'd put my long hair up in a simple ponytail, Naruto had once said he like it that way because it reminded him of a fox. Back then, I'd still been crushing on the poor boy and could only stutter in reply.

"I'd better be careful and hold you tight," Kiba added. "You're so dang cute, someone might just come and steal you away from me."

I laughed at Kiba's mock-serious tone, and we wandered off together to explore the rides we hadn't been on before. We went on the ferris wheel, the tea cups, and even back to the house of mirrors. It was alot of fun, despite the happenings of last time.

Kiba and I were sitting on a bench near the ouskirts of the park. I sat there contently, licking my vanilla icecream cone. I glanced over at my best friend to find him staring at me. "What? Is... is there something on my face?"

He chuckled. "Actually, yes. You have a bit of icecream on your chin." He reached over to wipe it off, letting his hand linger on my cheek longer then necessary.

I blushed at the affectionate gesture. "Kiba?"

"yes?" He was leaning in closure to me and I started fidgeting.

"What... are you doing..."

"Kissing you..." I didn't have time to process his words. suddenly there was a pair of eager lips on mine. I froze, in shock of the situation. Not that Kiba was a bad kisser, quite the contrary. It was just... weird... like kissing my own brother.

"Kiba..." I broke away, putting a hand on his chest to keep him from giving chase.

"What?" apparently, I'd given him the wrong impression. He rested his forehead on mine, staring romantically, or at least so he thought, into my eyes.

"Dont..." The hurt was evident in his eyes, and I felt the need to explain myself. "I'm so sorry... I just... don't feel that way... about you..." I really was sorry. He was my best friend, and I didn't want to hurt him. I never would've guessed he thought otherwise.

"It's fine, Hinata." But it wasn't. I could tell, by the way he didn't even glance at me while I finished my icecream.

"Do you... want to go on another ride?"

Kiba responded with a forced smile. "Sure 'Nata"

We stood, weaving our way through the park. There was an unusual flux of people at the park today, and at one point, I was shoved away from Kiba by a group of eager teenage girls on their way to the haunted house. I lost sight of him, and started to panic.

"Kiba?"

I pushed my way through the crowd to the edges to find myself pressed against the wall of a themed food court, near an alleyway. I searched the hordes of people for my friend, unsuccessfully. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. So I'd gotten separated from Kiba. Surely he'd have noticed my absents by now and was on his way back, looking for me too. If I just stayed where I was, he would eventually find me, right?

Wrong.

Searching the crowd, it wasn't long before I spotted a familiar head of spikey blonde hair. It wasn't long before he spotted me either.

"Hinata?" Naruto waved at me, jogging over and grinning from ear to ear. "Crazy crowd, ya?"

"Yeah," I blushed at the blond before someone else stole my attention. Obviously I shouldn't have been too caught off guard as Sasuke detached himself from the crowd to join his blond buddy, but I was. Behind the onyx eyed male, Gaara appeared as well, sauntering out of what appeared to be a large group of old ladies with his hands in his pockets. "Sasuke! Gaara! What are you two doing here?" The words slipped from my mouth, and I blushed more, realizing how rude I sounded.

Sasuke didn't answer my question, only standing there, watching me with a raised eyebrow, as if to say "You can't figure it out yourself?" His mouth slipped into a slow grin, unnoticed by the others, whose attention was still on me, and cause an uncomfortable knot to develop in my abdominal muscles.

"It's an amusement park." My attention turned to Gaara, his dark voice distracting me. I'd never actually heard him speak before. "We came to be amused." His green eyes flashed with subtle humor and I found myself blushing under his gaze.

Naruto laughed at his redheaded friend's comment and leaned against the wall next to me. "Since when did Gaara become the king of clowning? Real witty, isn't he?" It took me a moment to realize that he was asking me.

"Oh... yeah... witty..." I stared at my shuffling feet, embarrassed.

"So what are you doing here, Hina?" Naruto had no qualms giving me a pet name, still having no idea of my previous liking to him. I didn't mind though.

"Oh... well, I was with Kiba" Was that a glint of anger is Sasuke's eyes? "and we got separated in the crowd." I conveniently left out what at occured between my friend and I. It was too embarrassing. "I figured if I just waited here... he'd... come back and look for me..." Secretly, I feared he wouldn't.

"Why not go look for him?" Naruto asked. "I mean, what if he had the same idea you did."

"Naruto..." both he and I stared at Gaara, who'd suddenly interjected. "Think about it... This is Kiba you're talking about..."

"Oooooh, you're right!" Naruto slapped his open palm on his forehead. "Kiba can't stay still to save his life!"

While Naruto was laughing at his own stupidity, Gaara quietly came up to me. I blinked, unsure how to react.

"We'll wait with you." His voice reverborated thoughtout my body. It was quiet, but it seemed to take up alot of space. I blushed at the offer, stuttering out a quick thanks.

"Sakura wants to talk to you." The words were so fleeting that I almost thought I'd imagined them. However, when I glanced up, I saw Sasuke glaring daggers at Gaara's back. His eyes flickered to me, and he repeated through gritted teeth. "Sakura wants to talk to you." Yup, he was talking to me.

"Oh... um, where is she then?" I swallowed, not liking the look in his eyes, so I averted mine, instead, staring at the a distant spot behind his head.

"I'll take you to her." I nearly jumped out of my skin when he raeched around Gaara and grabbed my hand, pulling me closure to him.

The other boys must've sensed my discomfort because suddenly Gaara growled, "Sasuke-"

"What?" The blacked haired boy snapped at him. His tone was harsh, and if looks could kill, Gaara would be roasting in hell by then.

Gaara didn't answer Sasuke's silent challenge. Instead, Naruto interveined. "Dude, she's waiting for Kiba, remember?"

"Just tell him we went to find Sakura, and we'll be right back." Sasuke grit his teeth in a barely concealed growl and gripped my wrist tighter.

"Ow!" I flinched at he pulled me into the crowd. Looking back, soon I lost sight of the other two boys. Turning back to my captor, I asked, "What exactly does Sakura want to talk to me about?" He didn't answer me, only continued pulling me through the hordes of people until suddenly we were alone, somewhere between the restrooms and a concessions stand.

"W-where's Sakura?" Sasuke stood awfully close to me; too close for comfort.

"She's at home getting ready, probably even taxting Ino about our 'big date' tonight." I cringed. I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. It smelt subtly of breath freshener, probably a tictac.

"What?" Sasuke released my wrist and instead grabbed my shoulders, roughly shoving me up against the wall. It was damp, not to mention cold, and I was pretty sure the stone rubbed off some of my skin when it scraped across my bare shoulders. "What... are you doing?" I tried to struggle, honestly, but Sasuke was larger and must stronger than I was, and kept me pinned to the wall.

"You know," He muttered against my neck, nipping the skin. "I really hate it when other people try to take what's mine. You could almost say it sends me into a frenzy" He grabbed my chin, lifting his head to make sure I could see the hunger in his eyes. "Hinata, you're mine, and you shouldn't forget it." This was the first time he'd straight up said it. The looks in my direction, the passing whispers in my ears, they were nothing compared to this. I was scared. I was truly scared of this individual.

Sasuke leaned back down to continue his work, repeatedly nipping at my neck and then licking the wound. I cringed, feeling absolutely sick to my stomach. Kiba was one thing, but he never forced himself upon me, no one had. I wasn't sure how to react, how I could fight back. tears of fear and frustration started to leak from my eyes, and I contemplated giving up the struggled and just letting him have his way. _No_, I thought to myself as he hooked his fingers around the hem of my tanktop and yanked up. _I'm not going to let this happen_. Sasuke was kissing roughly along my jaw, just grazing over my lips. "Sto-"

"Sasuke!" A deep voice echoed through the semi-alleyway where Sasuke and I stood. My head snapped toward the sound and I saw none other than Gaara's red fury hair silouetted in the light like a bloody halo. Almost instantly, he pulled Sasuke off of me, tossing him easily into the opposite wall. He stood between us, his fists clentched. "I figured you were a jackass, but I'd never have guess you were suck a sick fuck, Uchiha." The venom in his voice scared me almost as bad as Sasuke had. I was glad not to have his anger directed toward me. He turned to me, muttering, "Let's go." I followed obediently as he led me out to a more open area. When we were a good distance away, he happened to glance back, "Shit, are you ok?" I could hear the glimmer of worry slip through his normally monotone voice. I was touched.

I put a hand over my mouth. "I think... I'm gonna throw up." Yup, I was definitly going to throw up. Spotting the nearest trash can, he guided me over, letting me do my business, even holding my hair back out of the way.

With my head stuck in a garbage can, I barely heard Naruto approach us.

"What happened? Is Hinata ok?"

"Sasuke-"

"-helped me find Sakura!" My voice sounded stranged, probably because of the disgusting taste in my mouth. I pushed myself up and gave Gaara a meaningful look as I spoke. He just stared back at me. "We found her... and were talking... and I must've ate something funky... because next thing I knew... I was here throwing my guts up."

"Oh!" Naruto looked relieved. "Where are they now?"

"They had a date." Gaara didn't look to happy to be grumbling out the words.

"Awww," Naruto crossed his arms, pouting. "Teme didn't say goodbye" He turned to me again. "You sure you ok Hina?"

His genuin worry made me smile, and I nodded weakly, still a bit dizzy.

"Cool! Oh, look!" He pointed off somewhere behind me. "There's Kiba! I'll go get him!" Naruto ran off, happily oblivious.

"Why did you lie?"

I glanced over at Gaara, who was staring at me seriously.

I blushed, unable to keep his gaze. "Well... Naruto and Sasuke... they're really close friends... besides... I wouldn't want to ruin his day..."

Gaara sighed and crossed his arms, looking up to stare at the incredibly blue sky. "You're too nice for your own good." I looked down awkwardly. "This... probably would've turned out better if it had been Naruto who found you, and not me."

The next day, Sasuke Uchiha showed up to school with a grimace and a black eye.

**Saria: Lol, I definitly added that tictac comment in for my own humor... I think the word is funny... also, yes, I meant to say "fury" hair, not "furry" hair... also, Gaara didn't LITERALLY toss Sasuke... though that's a nice brain image... lol I'm srry for all you KibaXHina lovers out there, but I must say I dislike the couple... however I can tolerate it more than NaruXHina which I refuse to write or even read. Hinata is just too kind for these people, she needs someone to soak up her goodness and help... like Sasuke or Gaara... ANYWHO! REVIEW FOR MA SANITY!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Saria: Yaya! Typa typa typa... That's all I got... Anywho, I was reading through all my old reviews for old stories I've posted in order to figure out how to make this one better, and It made me all warm and fuzzy inside to read some of them, especially from a user named "refridgerator-burn" or something like that, it made me happy... I hope people don't hate Sakura too much, 'cause I didn't mean to make you hate her. She's just like one of those show off-ey friends, you know? RXR PEOPLES!**

Kiba was avoiding me. I couldn't deny it, and it hurt. I saw him this morning and I waved just like normal. He saw me, I'm sure he did, but instead of coming over and chatting, he ducked away and disappeared. It was then that, as much as he assured me he was ok the day before, he wasn't. I'd hurt my best friend. That was only the start of my day.

It was lunch and I was on my way to the spot where I normally ate. It was under a shaded tree, near the front gate. This was the spot that Sakura, Ino and I had claimed at the start of our freshman year. Now that we were juniors, it was an unspoken fact that if anyone else sat here, Sakura would beat them up. Not that I enjoyed her violent tendancies, but she was pretty defensive.

I was wandering up to our tree, lunch in hand, ready to confide in my girl friends about my Kiba problems, when I noticed that two extra bodies sat in the shade of the empty cherry blossom tree.

I was about to turn on my heals and head straight back to where ever I'd just come from when I heard Ino call out to me from where she sat. "Hinata! There you are! Come sit with us!" I plastered a strained smile on my face, trudging to the group of four. I was there much sooner than I would have liked to have been. By the time I sat down, I was pretty sure I was going to throw up again.

"Hinata..." Sakura sighed, looking like she was upset that I'd taken all the attention away from her. "You look green. Are you ok?"

"Oh? I'm fine..." Though I'll admit my voice was a bit quieter then normal, it had nothing to do with that fact that I was NOT fine.

"Good," Why did I get the notion that she wouldn't have cared either way and just asked to make herself look good? Probably because she did. "Did you hear what happened to my poor Sasuke?" She pat the chest of the said person. Sasuke had his arm draped over her shoulders and was tracing small circles on her arm with the tips of his fingers. He smirked, knowing I could see this. The jerk. "Someone jumped him after our date! He didn't even see who it was!" Oh he knew who it was, and I'm pretty I had a good inkling on who as well. I was flattered.

"Yeah!" Naruto Yelled. "Now he has one hell of a shiner!" He laughed. "To bad Gaara's not here right now, He would have a field day with this!"

"Yeah, where is Gaara anyway?" Ino watched Naruto slurp his ramen, chuckling as the liquid splattered the boy's face.

"Mmmmph! Mff shff dmmmph!"

Ino slapped the back of his head, messing up one of his many spikes. "Swallow first, idiot."

He did so and grinned at the girl. "He said he was skipping morning classes. He should be here soon."

"Why... Just morning classes?" I couldn't help my curiousity and the question just slipped out.

"I don't know; something about going to see someone." He shrugged. "Apparently it was important.

"Oh..." I looked down at my food, disappointed. He was probably going to visit his college girlfriend or something.

"Speak of the Devil, and the Devil shall appear! Where ya been, Gaara?" Naruto waved to a spot behind me.

I turned my head to find that I was face to face with Gaara's knee caps. I looked up to find he had his arms crossed over his chest and an annoyed expression on his face. "Enjoying your picnic?" He asked the question pointedly, not taking his eyes off of Sasuke. Everyone else laughed, not detecting the slight menace in his voice.

"Umm... Gaara?" He shifted his gaze to me and I fidgited, embarrassed. "Why don't you... maybe... sit with us?" I wasn't about to deny it. Having Gaara around made me feel better. It was probably only because he saved me from Sasuke, but I wasn't about to question it. He represented a kind of safety, and I wanted to cling to that.

Gaara did sit down with us. He pointed at a spot and I scooted over so that he could place himself between Sasuke and I. Sasuke glared at my redheaded hero, and, in responce, quickly grabbed Sakura and started making out with her. It was quite disgusting and several time's I caught his eyes open and staring at me, as if to say 'Look at what YOU'RE missing out on'. I nearly rolled my eyes at his immaturity.

I moved closer to Gaara, and he just grunted, crossing his arms again and glaring at the Uchiha for freaking me out.

Naruto and Ino seemed to be in their own little world, chatting it up and occasionally telling Sasuke and Sakura to get a room, but they didn't really mind. I could tell, This left me to just sit in silence with Gaara.

"So..." I broke the empty space with my quiet voice. Gaara glanced down at me, causing me to blush. "How is your day so far?"

I could've sworn he almost smiled at my innocent question, or was it the embarrassing red painted on my face? "Fine." That was it... a simple one word answer... and yet... I was really happy. I mean at least he replied. Under different circumstances, I'm sure he would've just ignored the question, maybe answered with a grunt, and just go back to whatever it was he was doing before being distracted.

I looked back down and started to eat my lunch, which hadn't been touched until now. It was a simple home lunch, filled leftover pasta from dinner the previous night and a special cinnamon (CANT SPELL) bun in a sandwich bag.

Gaara picked at his lunch as well, poking the rice and making a face at the fish. It almost made me laugh; such a cute expression on such a serious person. "You don't like salmon?"

He shook his head, the expression remaining. "You want it?"

If it was possible to turn any more red than I already was, I'd have done it. "S-sure..." Gaara took his plastic fork and scooped up a bit of the spiced pink fish and held it up to me.

"Well?"

"Huh?"

"Are you going to eat it or not?" He raised an almost nonexistant eyebrow.

I blushed, leaning forward and taking the salmon in my mouth. Gaara smirked and I looked away, red. He refilled the empty for and continued to place dainty little bites in my mouth. It really was good salmon, but the fact that he was feeding it to me... That made it one-hundred and ten percent better.

When his lunch was empty of the fish, I covered my mouth, chewing, and looked up to find Ino giggling and watching me. I knew that if I let her corner me, I'd be bombarded with questions.

I spend the rest of my lunch eating in silence and the rest of the day avoiding Ino

I opened the front door to my house. it was a large house, not surprising due to the fact that it was owned by a rich family. Father often bought lavish things.

I entered into the front hall, taking my shoes off to walk on the plush carpets. Father would have a fit if I got dirt on them.

Wandering into the living room, I found my father and my cousin sitting across from eachother on our couch.

"Neji!" I dropped my book bag and hugged my closest cousin. I actually looked alot like him, so much that people mistake us for brother and sister. He had long dark hair and the same grey eyes as me. "What in the world are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Actually," Hiashi interupted our reunion. "Neji's going to be studying at Konoha high school for a while, so we were just discussing him staying here, with us.

"Really?" I was posatively ecstatic over the idea. "Why?"

"Do I need a reason outside of wanting to spend time with my younger cousin?" Neji patted my head, messing up my hair.

"Hinata?"

"Yes, father?"

"Could you show Neji to his room? I have some things I need to take care of for the company." Father looked almost excited.

"Do I get to know about it?"

"I'll tell you later." He took his turn messing up my previously perfect hair.

"Fine fine, come on Neji." I waved my cousin over to the hall to follow me.

After we had him settled in, Neji and I sat on his bed. "So..." Neji looked nervous, rubbing the back of his neck. "How are you?

"I'm fine." I smiled at him, blushing, and thinking back to the amusement park incident. "Why do you ask?"

"It's nothing." Ok?

That first evening with Neji went by reletively fast, filled with catching up mostly. The next thing I knew, I was back at school, pulling at the bottom of my lavender jacket. Everyone was staring at Neji, who stayed by my side for the better part of the day. Few people had actually come up and asked to be introduced to him, including a girl in my class named Tenten. Later she's cornered me in the bathroom and asked if I could set up a date for her with him. I told her I'd do my best.

It was nearly lunch and I was starting to get annoyed. I loved my older cousin dearly, but I couldn't understand why he wouldn't just leave me alone. I showed him around the school, introduced him to people, heck, I'd even accompanied him to the bathroom one (I didn't actually go in though). I did get lucky at one point, however. As the bell rang for lunch, I saw Neji was distracted, asking the teacher for some papers so that he could catch up to the class, being a couple chapters behind in math in his previous school. I took that chance to escape before he could follow me to eat.

I was hurrying off to my locker to grab my food when I stopped near an empty stairwell. I really needed to get in better shape if I was going to be running from Neji for the next who-knows-how-long. I leaned my back against the wall, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. It took me a moment to realize I could hear footsteps, and then my eyes snapped back open.

"W-what are you d-doing here?" I stuttered out, my eyes widening.

"Obviously, I followed you."

"W-why?"

Ignoring my question, he rolled his eyes. "Why'd you ditch your cousin?" Taking a step toward me, he cornered me against the window. I blushed as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Hinata... What would you have done if it had been Sasuke who found you instead of me?"

Gaara took his hand back, crossing his arms in disapproval.

"I... would've screamed?"

He chuckled, though I couldn't find the humor in the situation. "You say that..." He shook his head. "But I think you and I both know you couldn't do that." Sadly, he was right. I would have probably frozen up like I had at the amusement park. "You should go back and stay with Neji. He'll make sure you don't get hurt."

"I realize I should... but..." I sighed. "He can be so overbearing... I mean have you seen him today? It's like the only reason he's here is to watch over me."

"So you don't like it when he's always with you?"

"He's my cousin, but... yeah." I blushed, embarrassed to be admitting I wanted time away from my cousin after so soon.

"Then..." I glanced up at Gaara, who was watching me with a serious expression. "Stay near me."

**Saria: HA! 'cause Gaara totally has a college girlfriend, lol. anyway, I had to add the whole 'feeding her salmon' part cause it just seemed to be the right thing to do, you know . IT'S SO CUUUTE! Plus I was totally eating salmon when I wrote that / This chapter skips around a bit more then the others... I was originally going to stop writing after the lunch part, but it seemed to short, so I combined that with part of the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Saria: I really don't know how to feel about this chapter... I don't think I like it very much...**

The next week of my life was pretty, uneventful. Neji backed off a little bit and I spent alot more time with Gaara, who, though quiet, was really nice company. Often, when we were with other people, he'd make these small humorous comments that only I could hear and it left me smiling for the next hour. Sasuke left me alone for the most part, occasionally approaching me only to find I was either with his _favorite_ redhead or my cousin. My father was also growing increasingly excited, and it took all my strength not to beg him to tell me what about.

Both Ino and Sakura asked my several times if Gaara and I were secretly dating, and several times I told them no. They wouldn't drop the subject though, so I figured they didn't believe me no matter how much I denied it.

"You know..." Sakura said one day at lunch. "I'm pretty sure it's customary to hold hands with the guy you're dating... I mean Sasuke and I do it all the time." I blushed. Gaara was sitting right next to me, so obviously he could hear every word they said to me. I glanced up at him to find there was a tinge of pink on his cheeks as well.

"Sakura, I already told you-"

"I know, I know." She waved off my denial. "I'm just waiting for one of you to slip up and admit the truth." She slipped her hand into Sasuke's, giggling. Sasuke wasn't even smiling at her joke.

"I know!" Ino said suddenly. She was grinning from ear to ear. "We could play truth or dare!" Where did _that_ idea come from?

"At school?" I outwardly squeeked.

"Of course! It funner that way!"

"More fun..." I glanced up as I heard the Gaara's quiet comment, made just for my ears. I looked at him for help. I really didn't want to play. Knowing Sakura and Ino, this was probably just some ploy to get me to admit I might've have a _teensy_ crush on the redheaded boy, or to try to get us to kiss, either way I was screwed.

"I like how you think, Ino!" Naruto thrust his fist in the air.

"I'll go first," announced Sakura. Yup, they were out to get me. "Gaara. Truth or dare?" I relaxed, glad she didn't go straight to me.

Gaara crossed him arms. "Truth"

"How do you feel about Hinata?" I was immediatly tense again. I saw that Sasuke was too, though I'm sure for a completely different reason. Of course, I was curious as to what Gaara would respond, but I also dreaded the answer. What if he said he thought of me as a friend?

"I'm..." All eyes were turned to him. "Very protective of her." Ino and Sakura let out a synchronized "awwww" and I blushed. I could see that Sasuke was still tense, staring daggers at Gaara.

"Naruto, truth or-"

"DARE!"

Gaara smirked, figuring he'd say that. "I dare you to tell Gai that you can't participate in P.E. because you are 'on that time of the month'." Devious man! I blushed.

"Challanged accepted!" Naruto jumped up, ready to run off to find Gai.

"Not now, idiot."

I giggled as Naruto sat back down, and seeing this, Naruto yelled, "Hinata! Truth or Dare?"

I stopped giggling. "Ummm..." Which one? Which one? WHICH ONE? "T-truth?" I cringed, realizing I was cornered.

"Alright! Even I'm curious about this now!" Naruto gave Ino a 'thanks alot' look. "What exactly IS your real relationship with Gaara?"

"Oh..." Relief washed over me like a title wave. "We are just... friends..." I hoped no one caught the hint of sadness in my voice as I said the last word.

"Do you want to be 'just friends' though?"

"Naruto..." Gaara's breath brushed over my cheek sent a shiver down my spine. "That's more than one question" I stared up at him, mouthing a 'thank you'. He nodded and added on, "Now, Hinata... choose your next victim."

"I-ino?"

"Dare" I was hoping she's say that. You see, I'm not the only one who could see a potential blossoming romance. "I dare you to go on a date with Naruto, _today_."

Everyone laughed, well, Sakura and I laughed at both of the blonde's apparent blushes. Gaara chuckled his approval of my dare next to me.

Suddenly, the school bell rang off in the distance.

"awww" moaned Sakura. "Everyone didn't get a turn yet."

We all stood, gathering our stuff and then stumbled off to class together. The two other couples went ahead because Gaara had stayed behind with me while I dug through my back to find a spot to put my lunch box. After everyone was a good distance ahead, Gaara leaned down to me, surprising me at his close proximity. His lips nearly brushed my ear, as if he were sharing an important secret with me. "You know," He whispered, his voice sending shivers down my spine for the second time today. "I'm curious. What would your answer have been to Naruto's last question?"

Blushing, I stared at my feet and started to walk ahead of him. He laughed as I called back to him. "T-that's for me to know, a-and you to find o-out!"

When I got home that day, the first person I ran into was Hiashi, who had an uncharacteristic grin on his face. It was almost like watching a teenage girl gushing about her first boyfriend, and I got enough of that from Sakura.

"I have news!"

"Anything to do with your increasing amount of joy over the past few days?"

"Oh, how observant you are, my daughter." There was a hint of good-natured sarcasm in his voice as he placed his hands on my shoulders and guided me to the couch. He sat down next to me, placing a hand on my knee affectionatly. "My news deals with your long term future."

"What of it?"

"Well," My father twiddles his thumbs, seeming almost embarrassed. "How would you feel about an arranged marriage?" Huh?

I scooted to the end of my seat, staring at my father like a madman. "A-arranged m-marriage? T-to who?"

"Well, I'm sure you've heard of the Uchiha's." Oh god, please no. Don't let him be saying what I think he's saying. "Well, apparently their youngest son has taken a liking to you. He came up to me the other day and formally asked if he could court you." Hiashi clapped his hands. "I think he'd make a fine husband for you."

I sat there in shocked silence. Sasuke? And me?

I glanced up at my father, who radiated a happy aura around him. He seemed genuinly excited at the prospect of marrying me off to Sasuke.

I couldn't take it. Sasuke'd gone too far and I just couldn't take it. I jumped up and ran out of the house, not even taking the time to shut the front door. I ignored my father yelling out my name.

I didn't want to marry Sasuke. I didn't want to date him. I didn't even want to be alone with him, or near him for that fact.

My feet led me to the grounds of my school. Despite being nearly empty, aside from a couple club, the building was still open. I stopped at the cherry blossom tree, unsure of where to go from there.

Leaning against the bark, I slid down onto the grass, wincing as my hair got caught and tugged. I sniffled. I hadn't realized I was crying until I rubbed my eyes to find liquid on my hand. Why was I crying? I could just say 'no', right? No, I couldn't do that to my father... he was just so happy. I didn't want to break his heart. He probably already thought I was going to be an old cat lady.

"I'm assuming your fther finally told you."

I froze as I felt Sasuke wrap his arms around me.

"What are you-"

"You'll be my wife you know." He almost sounded tender... in creapy I've-been-stalking-and-harrassing-you-since-we've-first-met kind of way. "Do you understand what that means, Hinata darling?" He waited for me to answer, but when it became obvious that I wasn't going to, he answered for me. "That means you're mine, and _no one _else can have you."

"You're mental Sasuke..."

"Ohhh, I've never seen this feisty side of you." He let a finger trail down my cheek. "I... _don't _like it." Slap. My head snapped to the side and I felt a stinging sensation in the cheek he'd just been caressing. "It reminds me too much of Gaara." He spat the name through gritted teeth.

Sasuke kept hold of my wrists, using them to pull me closure to him. "Don't worry, I'll fix you. You'll be back to normal in no time." I knew I couldn't fight him off; he was too strong and no one was here to save me this time.

Suddenly, in my peripherial vision, I caught a flash of pink.

"S-sakura!"

"How... could you..." I couldn't tell if she was asking me or Sasuke. Either way, I could feel the guilt immediatly start eat at me for hurting her. She ran off, tears pouring out of her emerald eyes. I tried to go after her, only to be stopped by Sasuke wrapping his arms round my waist.

I turned around and punched him in the gut.

Hard.

Leaving behind the crumbling Sasuke, I ran after my pink haired friend. I couldn't tell where she was and when I finally spotted her, she was running across the street.

"Sakura!"

BAM!

I watched in horror as a car swirved off to the side of the road and Sakura fell down to the asfault. droplets of red blood mixing with her pink hair.

**Saria: Whew, took me a bit longer to post this chapter, mainly due to my catching up on the homework I missed when I was sick, but I also got major distracted by the Amv I'm working on (TobiXHina, crack pairing fun fun, lol) and sewing up the skirt I was making. AND THEN I GOT SICK AGAIN! (I can't even talk, literally, right now) I also edited, and re-edited, and re-edited this some more cause for some reason... this chapter just didn't make sense to me... If you haven't figured it out yet, Sasuke is kind of MENTAL! UGH, anyway I'll work on the next chapter! I promise!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Saria: Sometimes... I just want to write fanfiction about another fanfic... you know. There are just some AMAZING stories out there! I was quite tempted to not post this right away... which I ended up not doing anyway cause I lost my notebook (the one with the written version of this) Anywho the story is coming up to wraps, if I'm correct, there's only one chapter after this one, or... I could add more... hmmmm **

I sat on an uncomfortable green plastic chair in the hospital waiting room. Not like I could get comfortable anyway, I was too stiff with worry. I leaned down, putting my head between my knees. There was one other person there with me. I had never met him before, but he was the one who pulled Sakura out of the road and kept her from bleeding out too much while we waited for the ambulance to arrive after I'd frantically called 911. He was alittle older than me and he had introduced himself to me as Sai. He sat in the chair next to mine, remaining calm, and folding his pale hands in his lap.

I ran my shaky fingers through my hair, glancing at the sliding doors that led out to the front of the hospital again. Not knowing what to do, I had called Gaara, crying while I told him what happened. Under normal circumstances, I would have called Kiba first, or even Neji, but I had called without thinking and the next thing I knew, Gaara was telling me to take deep breaths and calm down, that he was sure Sakura would be fine. The instructed me to call my father and tell them what happened and where I was. He said to just do that and that he'd be there with me as soon as possible. Even after he had told me it would be fine, after I hung up the phone I was anything but calm. wave after wave of guilt associated nausea hit me.

"Freaking out won't help her." I glanced over at my quiet companion, surprised to hear him speak.

"I-I know... It's just-" My voice broke mid-sentence and I choked back a dry sob. "It's all my fault."

He sat there silently, his hands still folded in his lap. I thought he was just going to ignore me until he replied, straight to the point. "Were you the one who pushed her out in front of the car?"

"N-no, but-"

Suddenly, the doors opened and in walked in Naruto and Ino, hand in hand. How bittersweet.

"How is she?" Despite being Sakura's self proclaimed enemy, Ino looked about ready to collapse on the floor crying.

"We don't know yet." Sai answered in my place and I was grateful (...lol...). I didn't think I could hold it together and I would have probably ended up crying as well before spitting it out.

The pair at the door stumbled over and sat on the bench across from me. Naruto wrapped a comforting arm around Ino, who sat there with her face in his chest, sobbing.

I watched the couple and I was suddenly wishing I could have someone to comfort me like that. Don't get me wrong, Sai was great, in a third person, I-don't-really-know-you-but-I-feel-bad-for-you kind of way, but it just wasn't the same.

I stood up, giving Sai a look to tell him I'd be right back and I stepped outside. I took a deep breath, taking in the cool air. The pressure in my chest was killing me. there was a choking sensation in my throat and I couldn't figure out any way to relieve it. I just wanted to know if my friend would be ok. That's all I could ask for.

"You know, It's ok to cry..." I looked up to find Gaara, his arms crossed over his casual red t-shirt in a painfully familiar pose. "It's perfectly fine to cry," He repeated, walking up to me and wrapping said arms around my shoulders, pulling me into his chest. He cradled my head and I gripped his shirt.

"It's all my fault." I whispered, remembering Sai's previous responce to this. He hadn't given me a chance to explain why. A single tear ran down my cheek, dripping onto the red fabric and making a small spot. "If only I had at least tried harder to push him away-"

"Shhhh..." A large hand pet down my head, trailing through my hair. "There wasn't anything you could've done about it, or about her reaction." I sobbed into his chest, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face into his shirt.

It could've been minutes or hours, but I cried. I cried for Sakura and I cried for myself. Eventually I was reduced to just sniffled.

I pulled my ead back, feeling guilty for dirtying his shirt. I couldn't look up at Gaara, but he used a free hand to tild my chin up, guiding my eyes back to his. "Are you better now?"

Was is bad of me to be distracted by the seafoam green of his Irises, or to be engrossed by the soft redness of the Kanji inprinted on his forehead.

I blamed my hightened emotions from being worried about the situation with Sakura as a faint blush dusted my cheeks. My heart began pounding in my chest and my legs nearly went out beneath me. This only caused him to pulled me closer and I let out a shaky gasp in response to the proximity. My eyes flickered back and forth between his and his lips, and I was surprised to find him doing the same.

My own eyes widened as he began to inch his face closer to mine, but I didn't make a move away; instead, in a split decision, I stood up on the tips of my toes and met him in the middle.

It wasn't an earthshattering kiss, like the ones I'd read about in the novels I'd snuck past my father, or one that made me lose all thought. But it caused a warmth to spread thoughout my body. A nice warmth, like the kind a child gets when they're tucked into a thick quilt. The warmth and comfort that represented safety.

"She's going to be fine." Ino informed me after I'd guided Gaara back into the building with me. "The doctor says she just has a concussion."

"Oh, thank god." I sank down into the chair I had previously occupied, while Gaara sat in one next to mine, opposite Sai, who he gave a questioning look. He shifted so that our knees wer touching.

Even with the knowledge that Sakura would be fine, we sat in the waiting room for hours, until I had to force myself not to nod off every couple minutes, holding back yawns at even shorter intervals.

"Hinata"

"Hmmm?" I blinked, clearing my blurring eyes.

"You need to sleep." Gaara put a hand on my back.

"No... mmm'ok"

"Here." Even though, I'd said I was fine, I didn't protest as he helped me up. "I'm going to take you home, ok?"

I think I must've fallen asleep standing up, or was so out of it that I didn't remember walking home, because the next thing I knew, Gaara was carrying me cradled in his arms.

"Mr. Hyuuga," I heard him greet my father. We were home already? "You're daughter fell asleep on the way back."

"thank you for bringing her home safely, Gaara. Just bring her in here." The know eachother? I didn't recall introducing them.

"Mr. Hyuuga, I have something I'd like to speak with you about concerning Hinata."

"Go ahead. Here, make yourself comfortable in the couch." I felt the cushion near my head sink but I didn't react, pretending to still be asleep.

"Thank you." There was a pause and I felt a warm hand rest on my hair. "I hope I'm not being too foreward, but I have heard that arranged a marriage for Hinata and Sasuke."

"Did Hinata tell you that? Oh, I knew she'd be excited."

"I'm afraid it's the opposite sir. Hinata is scared out of her mind, and was only going to go through with this for your sake." No, don't tell him that Gaara. I wanted to shake some sense into my redhead friend, but I was too afraid to move for fear of getting caught. plus, I was curious where he was going with this. "Today, Uchiha had approached Hinata and, for lack of better words, assulted her, forcing himself on her." I heard a gasp from my fathers mouth and it took all my strength to not blush. "This wasn't the first instance either. I assume you recall the last time I approached you about bringing in someone to watch over her." A pause. "That was because Sasuke had done something similar the day before."

"And you didn't feel the need to inform me of this before?" There was anger in my father's voice.

"I assumed it was Hinata's wish, and it seems it was. But I feel that after today's events you had the right to know. You see, today's incident was the cause of her friend's accident. Sasuke had Hinata, and Sakura caught them, causing her to run off... and well, you know the rest, sir."

"Gaara." Was that a growl. "I don't approve of you withholding such vital information reguarding my daughter. However," his voiced softened. "I appreciate you approaching me now, before anything worse had happened. I am going to make sure to have a word with this boy's parents about his actions."

"Sir?"

"Yes, Gaara?"

"While we're on the subject, I have a request to ask of you."

"Yes?"

"Well, I would like your permission to pursue your daughter."

I wasn't avoiding Gaara... Really I wasn't... Ok, I was. It had been a week since I overheard the conversation he had with my father, and it wasn't that I didn't like him, Trust me I did, alot, but I was so nervous around him, I could hardly take it. Hiashi had approached me about breaking off the engagement with Sasuke, however he made no move to hint that he knew anything of what has transgressed between the two of us, nor did he say anything of speaking to Gaara.

Speaking of which, While avoiding Gaara, I spend alot of time at Sakura's house, checking on her and whatnot. I saw alot of Sai, who had very similar ideas. It turns out that he was in my grade. We didn't have any classes together, but after realizing that he existed, I noticed him around school. Eventually, we ended up walking together alot after school, because like me, he visited Sakura everyday.

I was at school one afternoon, eating lunch in one of the many stairwells when Gaara finally caught me. Of course I hadn't been eating under the normal tree because, like I said before, I was avoiding Gaara, and that would be the most obvious place to find me.

"Do I have the plague?"

I was thrown off by his seemingly random question. "N-no..."

"Did I catch lice?"

"No..."

"Have I killed a man?"

"I-I don't think so..."

He slammed his hands against the wall on either side of my head, successfully trapping me from escaping. "The why the hell are you avoiding me, Hinata?"

I blushed as my name slipped from his lips. Of couse he'd noticed. I stuttered back a reply, feeling my heart skip a beat at his proximity. "It's just... well, I heard you... t-talking to my f-father the other day... and... it was k-kind of embarrassing..."

"That's it?"

"Y-yes?"

"So, this has nothing to do with the fact that I kissed you?"

"No! Of course not." He... he thought I didn't like him like that?

"So, if I decided I wanted to kiss you again right now?"

"You... could find out..."

**Saria: This is technically that last chapter, but I'll prolly add some sort of epilogue, simply to incorporate some fun stuff, that I like... yeah, did you guys catch that part with Gaara talking to Hiashi earlier in the story (please refure to chapter 2 for more details) lol.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Saria: EPILOGUE! YAY! I added some bit's that weren't in the original draft, just to make certain people even alittle bit happy... just a little...**

We were in the middle of homeroom and Gaara had pulled me into his lap, resting a hand on my knee and his other arm around my shoulder. It was almost surreal how open he was about us, him being such an introvert and all. I blushed, because everyone was staring at us.

"So," I couldn't look him in the eye, for fear of fainting. "Does this mean we're, kind of... together?"

"Well, as you already know, I have your fathers permission." I glanced up. Oh, I did love the look he was giving me.

Ino popped up in front of us, slamming her hands down on the desk. "I knew it! You guys couldn't hide it much longer!" I didn't correct her on how this was actually a recent development.

"Ino," Gaara sighed. "Why don't you go bug YOUR boyfriend?"

"'Cause, he's late again." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"You know," Gaara murmured in my ear. "I'm starting to think Naruto has some sort of fetish for Ino beating him. He seems to be submissive enough."

I nearly choked from laughter, blushing. He pulled me closure to him, nuzzling my neck. "Speaking of beating," he added. "what happened to that Uchiha bastard?"

I cringed. I hadn't seen Sasuke since Sakura's accident.

Ino shrugged. " No on really knows. I heard that apparently his older brother took him in after his parents had some sort of disagreement with their business parner." She was close enough. Not even Gaara knew that my father had threatened to throw Sasuke in jail for an unrealistic amount of time of he so much as looked at me again. Of course, a police record wouldn't look good on a business card.

I turned to Gaara, and whispered into his ear, "I'll tell you about it later, k?" He nodded, but before I could retreat he caught me face with his hands and kissed me.

In front of everyone.

"Wha-"

"Staking my claim." He smirked, glancing at something behind me. I turned and saw Kiba giving him an envious glare.

"Gaara." I poked his shoulder. "Be nice to him, We're finally on speaking terms again."

He put his hands up in fake defence. "Hey, He's the one glaring knives at me."

"Guess what Sakura told me!" Ino cut in. "Apparently, Sai asked her out!"

"Finally, some normal teenage drama." I didn't add in that I like Sai mch better than Sasuke.

"Yeah, too bad someone had to get hit for it to happen." I cringed as Kiba's comment floated over to my ears. We really did a long way to go before we were back to normal.

Suddenly Ino leaned in and whispered into my ears. "Guess who's not a virgin?"

**Saria: and that's the end! yay! no more! I'm done! Time for CAKE!**


End file.
